Water-heater.



' No. 680,769. Patented Au 20, I901.

w. B. FOLGER.

WATER HEATER.

(Application filed May 31, 1895.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

Patented Aug. 20, I901.

W. B. FULGER.

WATER HEATER.

[Application filed May 81, 1895.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

INVENTORQ ITNEISSES. Mama/$ Jim L THE NCRRiS versus :0, Puovcxuwov, WASHWGTON a, c

Iran rnrns a'rnNr amen.

WILLIAM B. FOLGER, or CINCINNATI, OIIIO.

WATER HEATER.

SPEOIFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,769, dated August 20, 1901. Application filed May 31,1895. Serial No. 551,090. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, YVILLIAM B. FOLGER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed for domestic purposes, and especially for heating water for baths, stationary washstands, &c.

Its object is to provide a compact, durable, and easily-managed device so arranged that the water will be quickly raised to the desired temperature, the temperature regulated by controlling the flow of water, and accidents from carelessness, ignorance of the laws governing the evaporation or heating of water, or other natural causes avoided.

The invention will be first fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly referred to and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similar reference-letters wherever they occur throughout the various views, Figure l is an end elevation of the heater and its connections and support, except the housings, which are cutaway and shown in transverse vertical section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with the housings shown in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a transverse Vertical sectional view of the heater with the housings removed, the section being taken on line a: a: of Fig. 2 looking to the right. Fig. at is a plan view of the device with the housings left off. Fig. 5 is a detailed view, upon an enlarged scale, of the air-drum interposed in the supply leading to the water-heating coils. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lower course of coils; Fig. 7, a plan view of the heater, the housings and watercoils being removed. Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same, taken through line y y of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the gas-controlling cock, upon an enlarged scale, taken through line a a of Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a plan View of the water and gas controlling cocks. Fig.11 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the water-controlling cock, taken through line 4; 'v of Fig. 10.

The supportingstand of the heater is a rectangular angle-frame A, supported upon legs A, which have inwardly-projecting webs or flanges a, upon which the frame A rests. The upper ends of the legs overlap the angles of the frame and are secured to it by screws passing through their laterally-projecting wings.

Upon the inwardly-projecting web of the angle-frame A is supported the gas-burner. This consists of the transverse pipe B, the ends of which are secured to the angle-frame A. Into this pipe, upon opposite sides, are secured a number-of parallel perforated tubes b,which are closed at their ends. This burner is of ordinary construction, and any wellknown form of burner maybe substituted in its place.

The lower series of heating-coils is composed of clusters of small pipes c, the ends of which are secured in f unnel-shaped receivers C. The receivers at one end are secured in a manifold O and at the opposite end in semicircular unions 0 This lower series of coils is supported above the gas-burner upon brackets or legs 0, the lower ends of which are socured to the frame A, and the upper ends have inwardly-projecting flanges to pass under the manifold C and unions C The upper series of coils D, of which there are four, .are alike in construction, except that the first and third coils are shorter than the second and fourth of the series. At one end these coils are coupled to plain manifolds d and at the opposite end to the manifolds d, which have screwthreaded nipples d projecting down from the alternate corners of each series to engage screw-threaded openings in the manifold below each one of the series, so as to establish communication between the terminal of one series and the initial tube of the series below it, the nipple d of the lower coil of the series D being tapped into the perforation in the manifold O of the lower series, and the nipples and their engaging necks in the alternate series of coils being so arranged that the pipes in each of the upper series of coils are above the openings between the pipes below, so as to establish a free circulation of heat around all the coils. The arrangement of the manifold d as shown in Fig. 2-that is, having the intermediate ones coming under the -water-main and F the pipe leading from the gas-main. ThecouplingsE and F, which are, in fact, cases for the valve or cocks f and 6 pass through the frame and are connected on the inside, the one with the heater-pipe B and the other with the upright water-supply pipe 6, which leads to the upper series of watercoils D and connects to the lower branch of the air drum or chamber E The opposite branch of the chamber E is connected to the manifold d by a short branch pipe (2 The heating-pipes D and c are, in order to secure rapid heating, preferably made of copper tubes, and where there is a heavy pressure of water these are liable to crack or split when the full supply is turned on, owing to the water-hammer caused by compressed air in the pipes. In order to overcome this objection, I have provided the'upper end of the vertical pipe 6 with the drum E thus providing a chamber above the flow of the water leading to the coils. This being made much heavier than the water-pipes and being above the upper series of coils receives the air which would otherwise pass through the coils, and the air being compressed by the water flowing through insures a steady flow of water and prevents all jarring and hammering.

To prevent the coils from being injured by turning on the gas when there is no water or an insufficient supply of water in the pipes, I have coupled the water and gas supply cocks together. The plugs e and f have formed integral with them intermeshing cogged segments 6 and f and the plug 9 has also a handle 6 by turning which in one direction or the other both cocks are simultaneously opened or closed. The leading edge of the passage or way through the cock 6 is beveled off, so that when the handle is turned to turn on the water and gas it gives the water a lead and the water-supply is turned into the pipes before the burner is lighted. The plug f is perforated from the top down to the gas-pas sage, as clearly seen in Fig. 9, and upon the top of the plug is secured a supplemental gascockf which has a jet-tube f forming part of its plug f The passage leading to the plug f is always open from the gas-main, and when it is desired to light the burner the cock f is turned and the gas lighted from the jet f. When this jet is lighted and the handle 6 is turned to turn on the water-supply, the tube or jet-pipe will pass over the top of the burner and ignite the gas passing through its perforations. This jet-pipe f is so arranged that when the supply of gas and water are both cut off the discharge-orifice of the jettube will be slightly within the outer case or housing of the heater and nearly 0pposite the vertical water-supply pipe e, so that in very cold weather the gas from the jet-pipe f may be left burning and will produce heat enough to prevent any freezing of the Water in the heater or in the water-pipe leading to it. I have also provided the water-supply cock 6 with a supplemental valve, the stem 6 of which is screw-threaded and tapped into a perforation in the cock 8 The lower portion of the stem, being a plain cylinder and passing across the waterway in the cock e regulates the supply of water passing to the heater. Thus by turning the hand-wheel e to retract the lower shaft of the stem 6 and draw it out of the waterway through the plug or cock 6 a full supply of water will be turned on, and when turned in the opposite direction to close or partially close the waterway, as clearly seen in Fig. 11, the supply of water to the heater is limited. By this means the supply of water to the heater may be regulated as desired when the full pressure 'of gas is turned on, and of course the more limited the supply of water that is passed through the heater the higher will be its temperature. The supplemental valve is so arranged that at no time can the supply of water be turned entirely off, so that while the gas is burning there is always a supply of water passing through the coils.

The discharge-pipe G for the heated water is connected to one branch of the T-coupling g. To the opposite branch of this coupling is connected the faucet H. The opposite end of the pipe G is connected to a plain coupling g, which is secured to the opposite end of the frame A. The outer end of the coupling is closed by a screw-plug g The purpose of this arrangement is to adapt the fancet to either end of the heater, which may be done by placing the faucet in one end and the plug in the opposite end, or, if it is desired to employ two faucets, one for the bathtub and the other for the stationary washstand, the plug g is removed and the other faucet substituted in its place. The vertical branch of the union g is connected to the coupling g which has a union g which connects to the terminal branch 0 of the lower coil 0. The seat of the valve in the faucet H is scored or notched, so that it cannot be entirely closed 01f. The purpose of this is to prevent accident from explosion should the water-supply be closed off from this faucet while the gas is burning. The faucet H is not necessary when there is only one discharge for the heated Water, and a plain pipe would answer all purposes, as the flow of water would be entirely regulated by the compound water-supply valve above described; but when the heater is to be used to supply a bath-tub and stationary washstand it is ob vious that two faucets would be required, so that the water might be discharged from one or the other faucet, as desired.

In order to retain the heat from the burner around thecoils, I have provided two housings J and K, both of which may be made of light sheet metal. The inner housing J incloses the water-coils. Its top is perforated to pass the air-chamber E and the top walls flare out near the center, leaving an opening leading to the upper chamber between the housings J and K. This inner housing is slipped over the coil and rests upon the inclined walls of the brackets c. The outer casing K, which I prefer to make of Russia iron, either plain or nickel-plated, as desired, slips over the inner housing, leaving a chamber between the two, and is supported upon the top edge of the supporting-legs A. One side wall of the housing K has an opening to permit the jet-tube to swing in over the burner, the opening being protected by an escutcheon 7t. Ihe upper arched top of the housing K is perforated to allow the heated air to escape, which, together with the radiation from the surface of the housing K, serves as a heater for the bath-room.

The series of coils are put together by first inserting the nipple of the lower or cluster coil in the coupling g and turning the cluster series around until the nipple is screwed tight in the coupling. Each of the series of coils above are in succession connected in the same manner, and then the short branch pipe E the opposite ends of which have one a right-hand and the other a left-hand thread, is screwed in place, connecting the upper coil with the water-main. By this means the water-coils can be readily put together, and the connections between them support the coils in the proper position; but it is obvious that other well-known means may be employed to connect the coils of the upper series with the lower cluster-coil. It is also obvious that other well-known forms of water-coils may be used above my lower heating-coil O and also that my arrangement of connected valves for supplying gas and water may be employed with a different arrangement of heating-coils. I have, however, shown the best means known to me of embodying my invention in a completed structure; but I do not desire to be limited to the specific details shown, as the heater may be changed in mechanical details without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a heater of the character described, the combination of the burner, the lower water-coil formed in clusters, the pipes connected at opposite ends to common unions or return -bends which compel the water to travel in a sinuous path from its initial to its terminal union, a series of coils of larger pipes arranged above the cluster-coils, a pipe to supply water from the main or other source of supply to the initial pipe of the upper coil, a gas-supply for the burner, and regulatingcocks interposed between the water and gas supply and the water-coils and burner, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the upper series of coils of tubes with the lower coil formed of clusters of smaller tubes connected to common unions at each end and with a burner below the lower coil, whereby the water received from the upper series of coils is divided by the tubes and subjected to a high degree of heatby the flame passing between and around the clusters, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination in a water-heater of the heating-pipes arranged in series one above the other, the connected manifolds-or returns for the ends of the pipes, each manifold at one end of each series having a screw-thread ed neck at one end and a screw-threaded nipple at the opposite end to connect the manifolds and support the pipes, substantially as shown and described.

i. The combination in a water-heater of a series of heating-coils arranged one above the other, the water-supply pipe connected to the top coil of the series, and the air-chamber connected to the top of the supply-pipe above the branch leading to the top coil, substan tially as shown and described.

5. The combination of the heating-coils, a water-supply leading thereto, a valve interposed in the water-supply pipe to turn the water on or off from the coils, a supplemental regulatin g-valve arranged in the plug of the main valve to regulate the quantity of water passing to the coils without moving the main valve, a gas-burner beneath the coils, a gassupply pipe leading to the burner, a valve in the gas-supply pipe and connections between the gas-valve and the main valve of the water-pipe by which the gas-valve and the main water-valve may simultaneously be opened and closed, and the supplemental valve may be regulated independently, substantially as shown and described.

WILLIAM B. FOLG'ER.

Witnesses:

HOWARD H. RALSTON, GEO. J. MURRAY. 

